What’s below the surface of Lake DeFuniak?

Ebyabe

By LAUREN SAGE REINLIE / Daily News

Published: Monday, August 4, 2014 at 04:28 PM.

DeFUNIAK SPRING — Mayor Bob Campbell is trying to get to the bottom of what’s on the bottom of Lake DeFuniak.

The body of water in the center of downtown — lauded as one of only two lakes in the world naturally formed in a perfect circle — is rumored to have a deep cave carved into the limestone at the mouth of the spring that feeds it.

Last week, the mayor got approval from city leaders to send a dive team down to document it and the 7th Special Forces Group (Airborne) might be able to help.

“We had LakeFest recently and so many people were asking: ‘How is the lake fed?’ ‘What is down there?’ ” Campbell said. “They had all these different questions. I thought it would be a great idea if we could answer them.”

He said about 16 years ago a man put a motorized camera down in the bottom of the lake. Near where the bottom dips to 70 feet, the man reported finding a large gully at the mouth of the springs. The camera made it to a little over 100 feet into the cave before the cord ran out.

Having heard the military needs more space for training, Campbell thought the 7th Group’s dive team might be able to use the lake for a mission and, while down there, collect some photos and video of what they find.

Campbell reached out to Terry Boswell, a special forces soldier who retired from the 7th Group last year and opened a dive shop south of town. Boswell, 50, thought it was a great idea and has reached out to his former teammates at the 7th Group.

He said they are working on a plan to use the lake for training on their remotely operated submerged vehicles.

The concept piqued Boswell’s curiosity. Over the weekend, he and his son tried to find the mouth of the spring. They sent a GoPro camera down, but visibility was poor.

“It was like if you were inside a closet and shut the door,” Boswell said. “At 70 feet it went from green to pitch black.”

They plan to go back this week to dive down and try to find the opening.

Though the 7th Group is still considering the proposal, the mayor said he is planning to get a dive team down there either way.

“We’re going to dive it with or without them, but we’d rather have them come,” Campbell said.

DeFUNIAK SPRING — Mayor Bob Campbell is trying to get to the bottom of what’s on the bottom of Lake DeFuniak.

The body of water in the center of downtown — lauded as one of only two lakes in the world naturally formed in a perfect circle — is rumored to have a deep cave carved into the limestone at the mouth of the spring that feeds it.

Last week, the mayor got approval from city leaders to send a dive team down to document it and the 7th Special Forces Group (Airborne) might be able to help.

“We had LakeFest recently and so many people were asking: ‘How is the lake fed?’ ‘What is down there?’ ” Campbell said. “They had all these different questions. I thought it would be a great idea if we could answer them.”

He said about 16 years ago a man put a motorized camera down in the bottom of the lake. Near where the bottom dips to 70 feet, the man reported finding a large gully at the mouth of the springs. The camera made it to a little over 100 feet into the cave before the cord ran out.

Having heard the military needs more space for training, Campbell thought the 7th Group’s dive team might be able to use the lake for a mission and, while down there, collect some photos and video of what they find.

Campbell reached out to Terry Boswell, a special forces soldier who retired from the 7th Group last year and opened a dive shop south of town. Boswell, 50, thought it was a great idea and has reached out to his former teammates at the 7th Group.

He said they are working on a plan to use the lake for training on their remotely operated submerged vehicles.

The concept piqued Boswell’s curiosity. Over the weekend, he and his son tried to find the mouth of the spring. They sent a GoPro camera down, but visibility was poor.

“It was like if you were inside a closet and shut the door,” Boswell said. “At 70 feet it went from green to pitch black.”

They plan to go back this week to dive down and try to find the opening.

Though the 7th Group is still considering the proposal, the mayor said he is planning to get a dive team down there either way.

“We’re going to dive it with or without them, but we’d rather have them come,” Campbell said.